Achieving The Perfect Balance Between Work And Life

You’ve heard the cliché: You’ve got to work hard to play hard. Its been reiterated all your life. The expectation is that you have to strike the perfect balance between work and play, but it is never quite that simple.

It takes just the littlest shift in routine to send your whole schedule spiraling in the opposite direction.

So how do you ensure that you keep the whole act in careful balance, making sure you have enough time for yourself while getting your work done well and on time? Management is key.

Knuckle down and get stuff done

To maintain a good balance between work and play, make your time at work count. Get down to the grit and get stuff done. Instead of dilly-dallying to and from the coffee machine in the mornings, get to your desk and get going. That half an hour lost to procrastination can never be brought back. Leave the dawdling for when you check the fridge at home every second minute.

Leave the social out of the office

We’re all guilty of accidently clicking on the blue F and the turquoise birdie all too often. In the days of typewriters, people never had the distraction – neither should you. Frances Booth, Forbes contributor and a specialist in being productive in a digital age, recommends scheduling posts and updates. You don’t need to know what is going on all the time, rather focus on the task at hand.

Chill out, relax and switch off

Once you get home, relax a little. Switch off work devices such as cellphones, laptops and even watches. Booth recommends leaving emails for the office. In fact, take a break from all things digital.

Sleep!

What seems to be common sense is often lost in the commotion of the day’s work. Forbes contributor Booth recommends getting a good night’s sleep. Resting restores the work-play balance miraculously.

Set goals – reward yourself

The stick and carrot tactic is for children. If you are a working adult, make sure you set realistically attainable goals. By doing the aforementioned you gradually progress. If you finish a big project, reward yourself with something cool. Go out there and get that carrot. This enables you to start enjoying life, and by association, your job. Guess what? When you’re enjoying your job, you’re more productive.

One Response to Achieving The Perfect Balance Between Work And Life

I am a frequent radeer of your blog posts. I liked the recent one and other posts on your blog so much that I have subscribed to the blog’s RSS feed in Thunderbird. Even thinking of stealing some ideas and put them to work. Keep all the good work going by posting more informative posts. Thank you. Time well spent on this post.